Ripple’s David Schwartz Steps Down After 13 Years, Joins Board as CTO Emeritus

Key Takeaways:

• David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer and co-creator of the XRP Ledger, will step down at the end of 2025 after 13 years at the company.
• Schwartz will remain involved as CTO Emeritus and has accepted a seat on Ripple’s Board of Directors.
• Despite leaving daily operations, he pledged to stay deeply engaged in the XRP community and explore new use cases for XRP.

David Schwartz, one of the most recognizable names in the crypto industry, is preparing to scale back his day-to-day duties at Ripple. After more than a decade leading the company’s technology vision, he announced via X that he will step down as CTO later this year. Yet, far from retiring, Schwartz plans to continue shaping Ripple’s future, this time as CTO Emeritus and a member of its Board of Directors.

The time Schwartz has spent with Ripple can be traced to 2011, when he became one of the cryptographers. Together with co-founders Arthur Britto, Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen, he was involved in designing and coding the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which is currently one of the most popular blockchain platforms in the world.

In 2018, he became the Chief Technology Officer where he led the strategy of Ripple around blockchain scalability, cross-border payments and ecosystem building. During his tenure, Ripple increased its footprint in dozens of countries, made high-profile banking deals, and advanced the argument in favor of regulatory clarity in crypto assets.

Schwartz has a rare dual reputation in the industry, as both a trailblazer in blockchain architecture as well as a face to clarify the ins and outs of crypto with a clear explanation. His departure from the CTO role marks the end of an era for Ripple.

Read More: Ripple’s $125M Crypto Clash With SEC Paused Again — Massive XRP Shake-Up by August 15?

In his announcement, Schwartz struck a personal tone. Looking back at a 40-year career starting with a contract with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), and transitioning into crypto, he declared that it was time to redraw priorities:

“I’ve spent more than 13 years at Ripple. It’s been one of the greatest honors and experiences of my life, second only to my family. The time has come for me to step back from my day-to-day duties at the end of this year. I’m looking forward to more time with my kids and grandkids and returning to hobbies I set aside.”

Nevertheless, this was not a goodbye as Schwartz clarified. He stressed that he still loved practical coding, operating XRPL nodes and helping builders within the ecosystem.

Schwartz will not walk away, but he will shift to CTO Emeritus, a high-level advisory position that will enable him to guide the new generation of Ripple engineers. Also, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen offered him a spot on the Board of Directors, which Schwartz took.

This will help Ripple save his strategic acuity and leave the daily technical management to others, including Dennis Jarosch, Ripple SVP of Engineering, who will have an increasingly significant role in the future.

This appointment to the board will provide Schwartz with an avenue through which he can further shape the long-term mission of Ripple: to promote the use of blockchain in finance and to promote responsible regulation.

Read More: Ripple Transfers $477M in XRP, Is a Major Deal Brewing Behind the Scenes?

The XRP ecosystem is buzzing with expectations for spot ETF approvals. The REX-Osprey XRP ETF (ticker XRPR) is already trading in the U.S., and others including proposals from Bitwise, 21Shares, and WisdomTree, await SEC clearance. 

With SEC generic listing standards in place, the process is expected to accelerate.

Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD, pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, is gaining traction. Major exchanges such as Bybit have added RLUSD trading pairs (XRP/RLUSD, ETH/RLUSD, BTC/RLUSD). Recent attestation reports by Deloitte validate RLUSD’s reserves and transparency.

• XRP cleared regulatory uncertainty after the SEC verdict, triggering renewed institutional interest. 
• XRPL developments and on-chain metrics suggest momentum gathering behind the token. 
• Technical signals are mixed: while price approaches resistance near $3.00, market sentiment (Fear & Greed Index) shows divergence, rising price amid growing fear.

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